by Benson, Tom
Cherry nodded. “Here we are at ‘Cedar Thatch’, which at least is a bungalow.”
Bill pushed the front door, and it opened easily although the hinges creaked. “Stand back for a moment, Cherry. If we can gain entry, it means other things could too.” He went inside and called out, “Okay, come in.”
Cherry stepped inside a cosy house which was just as the owners had left it. All was normal, except for the broken windows, layers of dust, and the noise of the new residents scurrying around unseen. “They must have been very tidy people. The kitchen has nothing lying around, and apart from furniture being chewed and covered in various droppings, everything is in place.”
As if on cue, two birds flew through from the kitchen. They fluttered around the living room and out through the hallway and kitchen again.
“Isn’t it ironic?” Bill said. “The curtains and furnishings will rot, and the thatch will deteriorate, but this building will still provide a home.”
Both of the next houses had a large X burned onto the garage doors. While Bill walked past without paying attention, he was aware of his companion looking back at them. It was better that she didn’t know the details.
By the time they’d visited every house still standing in the small village, there were five more house doors or garage doors with an X burned onto them by Bill using his laser rifle. On each occasion, Cherry stood dutifully at a distance and never asked questions.
As they turned into Perth Road to walk back to the railway station, Cherry paused. “Look, Bill up in that tree.”
“Wow,” he said, “a good example of what we were discussing earlier. Six cockatoos and goodness knows how many budgies.”
Cherry laughed. “I stopped counting at twelve, and there are more over in that other tree.”
“They’ve done well to survive and flourish. I wonder if any of them tease the cats.”
“We’ve only seen about ten cats, and unless it’s my eyesight playing tricks they’re bigger than I’d have expected—I wouldn’t be teasing them.”
“There would have been wildcats and feral cats in this region, so we’ve probably been seeing the early signs of new sub-species. I suppose you’d end up with a wildcat which is even more at home doing exactly as it pleases.”
The pair went back inside the station and through to the cafe.
“How was it?” Victoria said.
“Interesting,” Cherry said as she approached and sat beside the other woman.
“Talking of interesting,” Jay-Dee said, “would anybody like to try another one of my special antique teas?”
“Yes, please, mate,” Bill said. “How about tea all around? I’ll slice a few of these strawberries, apples and pears for a snack.” Bill stood at the counter and started work on the fruit, preparing four servings on plates. Although not listening to every word, he was aware that Cherry was giving Victoria an insight into what was left of the village.
“A distillery?” Victoria said, “There is a whiskey distillery?”
“It’s right on the edge of the village and really not worth a visit any more.” Cherry shook her head and then commenced to talk about the quaint cottages and the few modern houses which had survived.
“An X?” Victoria said next.
Cherry quietly and briefly explained.
“Oh dear,” Victoria’s voice finally lowered to match the tone of her friend. “That is so awful.”
A few minutes later, they were sitting around a pair of tables enjoying fresh fruit and not so fresh tea.
19 - A Burning Question
When Jay-Dee and Victoria went out on their wander around the village, they were equipped for the scavenging role. Bill had separated the pair of small backpacks he’d been using, and the contents were shared among the three large bergens. This, the team reasoned would allow the small packs to be used for collecting fruit, vegetables and herbs if Victoria was able to source any.
For good measure, the botanist packed three small resealable containers she’d found in the cafe storeroom. She said they’d be useful to keep fragile items she might discover. If apples, pears, strawberries and herbs were easy for Bill to find it filled Victoria with confidence that she’d find more when out with Jay-Dee, the group’s acclaimed fisherman.
Victoria’s ankle was as good as new, having been bound and rested for most of the previous day and the first few hours of the next. “You’re bandaging skills have really done the trick, thank you.”
“All part of the service, ma’am.” He laughed. “Which way would you like to go and we’ll work from one end to the other?”
“I think we’ll go left towards the distillery that Cherry mentioned. She said it was right on the edge of the village. We know that the sub-station is at the other end, so it gives us two cut-off points.”
“You’re starting to sound like Bill.” Jay-Dee grinned.
The pair walked along Perth Road to the junction and turned left. As they walked past the houses, they both glanced at the cottages or garage doors with a large X, but they didn’t discuss the marking or the reasons.
Victoria said, “Is it just me, or are there a lot of birds around here?”
“There are plenty of birds, and I think it’s a sign of how healthy the local woodland is. Of course, as Bill and Cherry were saying, there are a lot of birds making their homes in abandoned buildings, so once again it’s proof of nature taking its course.”
They strolled along in silence apart from the chirping and calling from all the feathered species around the area.
“I bet he doesn’t go hungry,” Jay Dee said and nodded along the road.
“He’s beautiful.”
A handsome red fox was standing at the side of the road, its black ears twitching as it assessed the visitors to its territory. The animal walked on unperturbed and disappeared among the trees on the other side of the road.
A short while later the pair were walking along a section of the roadway which had no houses. The sign for the distillery was buckled and badly damaged but had still not given up the fight to advertise what had once been a local industry. The massive metal gates were wide open as if the workforce had left in a hurry. The buildings were in a terrible state of repair.
Victoria said, “I wonder if this place was raided in the final hours, or if anybody went inside to drink themselves to oblivion.”
“I’d be inclined to agree with Bill. “Not much of the place is still standing. Anybody who did go in there has either long since passed away or moved on. If they were in there to get drunk and then sobered up, they’d have left the village or moved into one of the houses.”
“There are so many regional industries up here in the Highlands too. It’s so strange to think that all the people have gone and many of those things which provided a livelihood are still here.”
“Would you like to go in and walk around the grounds?”
“No, Jay-Dee, I think we’ll go and do a tour of the rear gardens and see what we can find.”
They set off back towards the village, watched by the inquisitive fox from within the tree-line across the road.
Jay-Dee stopped at the first gate and led the way to the rear garden. “What have we, here?”
“Apple trees and pear trees,” Victoria said. “I think we’ll take a selection of both and if necessary we can carry the empty containers, and they will be ideal for anything smaller.”
It was another four gardens before they discovered tomatoes, carrots and onions. Later one of the plastic containers was filled to capacity with strawberries and another with blueberries. By the time they’d reached the other end of the village, they had added potatoes, turnip, lettuce and a small selection of herbs.
“We’ll eat well this evening and tomorrow,” Jay-Dee said.
“I thought it might be an idea to gather enough for a good meal this evening and a decent breakfast tomorrow. According to what Bill has suggested, we’ll be tackling our longest phase, and he said we might benefit from a midday
meal tomorrow.”
“Of course, we don’t know what we’ll find when we get to Aviemore,” Jay-Dee said, “even if it is a bigger place and higher in altitude.”
“Well, my friend, we’ll eat most of the vegetables and if we have some fruit and vegetables to take along it will be a bonus. We’ve managed our rations well, and your outstanding fishing has supplemented what we had.”
The evening meal might not have contained any meat, but each plate was full, and the four people tucked-in and enjoyed every morsel. They finished with fresh fruit and more of Jay-Dee’s rescued tea.
Cherry said, “I meant to ask earlier, Victoria—how was the ankle this afternoon on your foraging mission?”
Jay-Dee said, “Her ankle was fine—I had to run to keep up with her.”
Victoria laughed. “It was great, and I really appreciate the effort you all made to carry me here yesterday.”
“We couldn’t leave you behind,” Cherry said. “We needed somebody good at recognising herbs and the leaves on some vegetables.”
Victoria rolled her eyes at her friend. “Bill, what are you most looking forward to tomorrow?”
“I’ll be pleased when we get within sight of Aviemore as long as there is still something to see, but there is one other important thing I’m looking forward to.”
All of the others turned to hear what it could be.
“Whatever we find when we get there, I’m hoping that the local sub-station is in good condition and Cherry can perform her magic again. If we can switch on the local power supply up there, it will alert our friends back in Auchcarn that we made it to our objective.”
“I can just imagine them,” Jay-Dee said. “When the red light comes on, and the alarm sounds to show that Aviemore has power, they’ll be dancing around like the NASA team at a successful space launch.”
“You’re probably right,” Cherry said. “I’m hopeful that all will go well. If the two we got working were Mark 4 installations, then the chances are fair that the one for the Aviemore area will be as modern.”
“Would anyone else like some more of this lovely tea?” Victoria held up the large pot and poured when all three of her companions nodded.
The four friends chatted, enjoying the unexpected comfort of their surroundings for a second evening while away from their mountain home. When it got late, they all lay on their individual sections of the upholstered benches.
Each of the team had somebody they held dear back at Auchcarn, but this was a special mission for which each of them had volunteered, recognising that they’d be parted from loved ones.
For Cherry, she always thought of Calvin, her hero and the father of their beautiful twins, Adam and Eve. She smiled as she thought of them, named not in jest, but because one evening in the glass corridor, Calvin had embraced Cherry and told her he felt like he was in the Garden of Eden. They were starting over, responsible for a new generation and another chance for the human race.
Victoria had the same maternal concerns, being away from her daughter. Just like Cherry, she was confident that her partner, Harry would make such a fuss that young Laura would be happy. It still felt surreal to the botanist that the tutor she’d idolised so long ago was now her lover and the father of her child.
Jay-Dee’s thoughts occasionally strayed to Archie, a man he had chatted to during the short coach and hiking tour six years earlier. He could never have imagined they would become long-term partners in such a strange twist of fate. Apart from having demonstrated his engineering skills when needed, the big man had been a rock for his new partner in life. For Jay-Dee, Archie was a confidante, friend and a lover.
Bill felt as if he had a split-personality. When he was with Fiona, he relaxed and felt that life was repaying him for all the hardships and horrors he’d witnessed. Then an occasional incident would occur, which would return him to being the man who must protect and defend all around him.
When the coach had landed inside the old disused tunnel, nobody was more surprised than Bill. When he realised that Paul had delivered them safely, life took on a new meaning—a new sense of responsibility fell on Bill’s shoulders. He’d survived for a reason.
Bill was delighted when different people tried the leadership role, which provided some relief. He was always monitoring, waiting for something to go wrong. Most recently, there were the sightings of the psychopathic woman, Patsy, and it seemed that though she now had a child, she was still as deranged and murderous as ever.
.
Saturday 6th August
“What will Aviemore bring?” Bill whispered as he sat on the edge of the railway platform, looking left and right along the empty tracks.
“Harry does that sometimes too.”
Bill turned. “Hi, Victoria … Harry does what?”
“Casually asks a question when he thinks he’s alone.” She paused. “May I join you?”
“Certainly, pull up a section of the platform.”
Victoria sat down and swung her legs out to dangle over the edge. “This isn’t exactly a position you ever see yourself in, is it?”
“No, I suppose not,” Bill said and laughed. “We should be standing at a safe distance behind these faded yellow lines we’re sitting on.”
“So, are you having last-minute doubts about what we might find?”
“No, nothing like that—I think I must have reached a point where I question every possibility around every corner.”
“I’m sure Fiona must have told you before now, but you do realise that every man in our community is jealous of your self-confidence. You never appear phased in any situation.”
He laughed and turned to wink at her. “Don’t tell anybody—it’s all an act because I’m so afraid of failure.”
“You’re not fooling me with that rubbish.” She offered her tea.
“Thank you.” Bill accepted the mug, took a sip and handed it back. “It’s good to taste real tea again. I’m afraid to ask Jay-Dee what the date was on the packaging.”
Victoria laughed. “When we had our first taste of it, and it didn’t make us sick, I told him to get rid of any of the information about consumption dates.”
The pair sat in companionable silence for a while until there was a delicious aroma in the air.
“What is that lovely smell?” Victoria said.
“Thin-sliced, baked potatoes,” Cherry said approaching from behind them. “Served with a variety of other vegetables.”
“Let’s go and eat,” Bill said and after springing to his feet, he helped Victoria up. “A nourishing early breakfast, and then we’ll see this thing through.”
The group rearranged the distribution of their packs. When satisfied that they were all comfortable and ready, they left the station. First, they followed the central platform until it was a ramp down to track level, and then they walked beside the track in a northerly direction.
Bill said, “If we go this way, it means walking alongside the track for two miles, but it cuts out a four-mile walk back to the road junction simply to turn and head north.”
Victoria said, “I hope the road is in good condition when we get to it because we know it will make such a difference to our progress.”
In less than half an hour, they were using rocks on the railway to create a marker before they climbed a small embankment to reach the A9. All four of them made it to the smooth surface in the middle of the road and looked around.
Jay-Dee nodded toward the small village they’d just left. “Thank you, Dalwhinnie.”
“Northeast and Aviemore,” Bill chirped, “stopping for lunch at Kingussie.”
Having come so far, it was a happy little expedition which marched along the road. They could easily see that the road would have a gradual slope to climb, but as they’d learned, where there was an uphill gradient, there was no water.
After two hours they were able to see long sections of a road to the west of them. Apart from the clear parts, the surface was either overgrown or under water.
“That’s the A86 which is the main route up from Fort William.” He didn’t mention it, but he was sure that due to its proximity to main waterways, the whole of Fort William would now be more like Fort Atlantis. “The road meets this one a few miles up ahead.”
By mid-day, at a steady pace, the team arrived on a summit overlooking a slightly lower area to the west. An area of swamped buildings could be seen.
Bill said, “If you look over to the left, the village you can see underwater is Newtonmore which means it’s not far until we stop for a break.”
Apart from nodding to acknowledge the sight of yet another subterranean village, the group walked on. They were looking forward to a relaxing break. Since leaving the station at Dalwhinnie, they’d stopped twice briefly for a sip of water and then moved on.
It was one o’clock when they arrived on a narrow but stable road bridge which crossed the River Spey; a river which now looked in this area like a loch. The banks had burst when the seismic activity had moved the tectonic plates under the Highlands and then as would be expected a river like this one, fed from the North Atlantic, swelled. The tips of the church spires on the left which broke the water’s surface belonged to two places of worship in Kingussie.
Bill pointed ahead to the left. “There’s a lay-by about three hundred metres away so it would be a logical place to relax for a while and enjoy lunch.”
“I’ll happily join you in that, mate,” Jay-Dee said, causing a few titters from both women.
Victoria and Cherry worked together to dig a platform into the grass embankment which they then shielded with some small rocks to build a campfire. When they’d piled earth around it with a small gap at the base, it was already burning well. A few small twigs were added, and within minutes it was ready for potatoes to be rested on top.